


The Dragon War

by k9dixie548



Category: Original Work
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-18
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-12 04:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/807419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/k9dixie548/pseuds/k9dixie548
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war between Ris' Valen and Coronus has lasted for over a hundred years, and there is still no sign of an end. However, four unlikely hero's will show amazing courage and sacrifice to end this war. They and their dragon companions will fight, but the question is, will they succeed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first story I've written and to be honest, I'm really nervous. However, I hope that you will all enjoy it. Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions. Flame's however, will be used by the dragons for s'mores.

Far away in a mystical land, people lived in harmony with some very special creatures. These creatures were called dragons, but they are not like the normal fire breathing, princess eating dragons that people here think of. There were lots of dragons in this realm, and there were different types of dragons as well. One type of dragon was the water dragons. Water dragons lived in the oceans. They were normally a shade of blue, very fast swimmers, and had venomous claws and a poisonous bite. The females of that species, however, could use the venom as a healing agent. 

Another type of dragon was the earth dragons. Earth dragons were green, with brown speckled on their scales. They were bigger than the other dragons and built like tanks. They lived mainly in the plains. They were very spiky dragons and they could shoot their spikes to pierce their enemies. The females could even have their spikes explode. 

Next were the air dragons. Unlike the other dragon species, the females were much more aggressive than the males. Air dragons were normally found in the mountains. All air dragons were different shades of gray, which helped them blend in to the clouds. Air dragons breathed a cloud of noxious gas and spit acid. 

Finally, there were the fire dragons. These dragons were rare, because they were only found on volcanic islands. They were bright red, and could breathe fire as hot as magma. Since they lived close to volcanoes, they could fly like air dragons, but not as well.

People in this land lived in harmony with the dragons. Every person was bonded to one specific dragon when they turned 16. The dragons could speak telepathically to the humans, since dragon language was impossible for humans to understand. The dragons could also help their bonded by using their shed scales as part of mage jewelry, which people used to create and cast different spells. A long time ago, the dragons taught the humans how to use magic, but there were only a few who could use magic without assistance from magical items. These were called mages, and were trained in a special academy. 

Now we must move on to the reason we are visiting this realm. There was once a great war that threatened to engulf the entire realm. It was a brutal war and lasted for a very long time. However, this war was only fought in two countries. One country, called Ris’ Valen, was ruled by a monarchy, and the people there flourished. It was surrounded by mountains, plains, an ocean, and a wasteland, but this country was green and prosperous. They had a university for mages, a school for knights and other warriors, and were a center of trade for the other countries surrounding them. They had lots of dragons there, and every one was content. 

The other country, called Coronus, was a chain of the rare volcanic islands that produced fire dragons. It was always sunny and warm there. While crops were not the best, this country was best known for its mage school and the magical islands. This country was ruled by a kind old emperor who was a friend to the monarchy of the other country. All was peaceful in the realm. 

However, the emperor’s eldest son was not pleased with the alliance between the two countries. He was a selfish man and believed that the people with the superior fire dragons should rule the realm. He was also a very clever man, so he laid a trap. He sent an assassin to kill the king of Ris’ Valen. On that same night, he poisoned his father. He told his people that the Ris’ Valen king had killed the emperor and that they were going to war against the country they were once friends with. The people of Ris’ Valen had believed that the assassin was from the emperor, and also declared war. 

Now the war has been fought for close to 100 years, and no one remembers the reason the war began. The evil son died after seeing his plans start, but his ideas were passed to his descendants, who still follow his ideals. Both countries have suffered from the war. However, four people will soon meet and change the path of the war. This is their story.


	2. On the Front Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we meet the youngest and strings of fate begin to intertwine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for future refrence, the people here don't use the same type of measurements. For example, height is measured in hands. Three hands equal 12 inches or 30.5 centimeters.

Lucarius was not having a good day. He had stayed up late last night celebrating with the other couriers because of his promotion to the next rank up. He was quite proud of being the first to go from an apprentice to a fully fledged courier in less than half a year. However, because of his partying last night, he slept through breakfast and had to be woken up by Zephyr knocking him out of his hammock. After realizing he wouldn’t be able to eat until dinner, he figured he might as well go hunting, but that plan was quickly foiled. Opening the flap of his tent, he had seen that there was a thunderstorm coming, which meant no animals to go and hunt for. Sighing, he was about to go back into his tent when Zephyr nudged him in the back, almost knocking him over. Glaring up at the 35 hands gray and black dragon, Lucarius had asked indignantly, “What did you do that for?!” 

Rolling his huge yellow eyes, the dragon calmly replied, _“Well, I figured after all we went through to get this far you wouldn’t want to miss your meeting to get your base assignment. But if you would rather stay here…”_ Lucarius’ face paled. He rushed back into his tent and grabbed his quiver and bow. Racing out the door, he called back to his partner, “I’ll be back soon!!”

Now he was in line with his other rank graduates, ready to be assigned to his new base. He knew that there were only four other bases he could go to, but he didn’t know much about them. The courier next to him was much older and seemed to notice his troubles. “You don’t know the different bases, do you son?” the other courier asked. Lucarius shook his head. The older man nodded. “Well, let me tell you what I know. The four bases are on each end of our country. If you don’t go to any of them, you’ll end up here at the capital academy, in the center of the country. The western base has this wide, grassy plain. We’re friends with that country, so there’s no fighting there. It’s a small base anyway, so they only have one courier assigned there, and as far as I know, he’s still quite healthy. 

“The northern base is very cold and has lots of icy mountains. No one but barbarians live up there, so those fights there are very challenging.” Lucarius shuddered. He definitely didn’t want to go there. He hated the cold. The elder man continued. 

“The eastern base is bordered by a wasteland. It’s definitely better than the other bases cause they get plenty of fights, but the base is able to hold their own. That’s where you really want to go to. If you go there, you’d be able to be put to use and not get hurt too much. Finally, there is the southern base. It’s on the cliffs that border the ocean between us and Coronus.” Luce nodded. He knew about the war between the two. Ris’ Valen and Coronus had been at war for what seemed like forever, which made sense since the war was almost reaching 100 years.

“The southern base is on the front lines and has constant fighting. It also has the highest death ratio of all the other bases.” The other courier looked around and lowered his head to Lucarius’s ear. He whispered, “There are rumors around the academy about people posted at the southern base. It’s said that anyone who didn’t die in their first year there was changed permanently." The older man shrugged. "No one’s said if it was in a bad way or not though.” Lucarius froze in fear. He did NOT want to go to the front lines. He knew how dangerous it was to be a courier in a war zone. There was always the risk that one could be given something extremely important and end up caught by the enemy. He didn’t even want to imagine the tortures he might be put through if he got caught, but his brain supplied the information anyway.

“Courier Lucarius!” Lucarius snapped out of his daydreams. By the amount of snickering going on around him, his name must have been called quite a few times. He looked for the other courier but the man had already been called. Gulping, he stepped forward and looked at the person who would now decide his fate. Looking down at the papers, the man gave a wince. His heart plummeted. That could only mean one thing. The man looked up. “Courier Lucarius, based on the recommendations of your teachers and your obvious skills due to graduating so quickly, you have been placed at the Southern Cliff Base. Go and pack your bags. They want you there as quick as possible.” Yep, it was official. Lucarius was not having a good day.


	3. Southern Cliffs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucarius and Zephyr travel to the cliff base where they meet two very different individuals.

Arriania sat on a jut in the cliff, looking at the sky. Winter had set in, which meant no fighting until the ground thawed and the ice covering the middle of the ocean melted. While she was grateful of the ring of higher cliffs that surrounded the base and kept the air calm, she wanted to be where the weather was fierce. These were the days where she envied the Air Dragons and their bonded. Sure, being in the water when the sky was stormy and the waves were high was exciting and fun, but she wanted a new thrill. She had been hoping to come to the base before winter set in so she could fight, but there had been quite a few setbacks, the least of which was her bonded dragon almost losing her leg in a fight. 

Sighing, she turned around and looked at her dragon Myst, who was trying to soak up as much sun as she could. The 31 hands water dragon was a bright cyan, with pale markings winding and curling around her body and ending at the tip of her tail. On her head, back, tail, front elbows, and back ankles were the fins that helped Water Dragons move so quickly through the ocean. Around her neck was a black necklace, its wires criss-crossing around each other. In the center was a bright silver circle. It was simple, but Myst loved it and refused to take it off for something better. She also wore onyx bangles on her front legs and had an ornate silver chain with bands attached to her tail. On her back right leg was a small scar, which formed a ring around her thigh. She and Myst had been caught by bandits, and Myst had almost lost her leg because the bandits were threatening to cut it off. Thankfully it was still there, but that leg was still very sensitive.

As Arriania stared lost in thought, her dragon peeked open one black eye and looked at her. Lifting her head and nudging her bonded affectionately, she asked, _“What’s wrong? You look like you were floating along the waves again. Where are your thoughts taking you now?”_ Arriania smiled and shook her head. Lying down with her head on Myst’s side, she sighed again. 

“I’m bored Myst,” she whined. “I’ve been here for almost two weeks now and there’s nothing to do.” Turning her head to look her dragon in the eye, she continued. “I know you know almost everything going on in base, gossip queen that you are. So please, tell me something new!”

Lifting her head, Myst looked at the waves, sifting through all the new tidbits she had heard that Arriania still didn’t know. Finding one, she turned, knowing her partner was going to love this juicy piece of news. _“Well, I heard from Ghale, the Air General’s bonded, that there’s supposed to be a new courier coming fresh out of the academy.”_

Arriania did not look impressed. She closed her eyes and muttered, “So? A new courier who’s probably going to end up fire dragon bait? This is the best you’ve got?” 

Myst snorted indignantly. _“I wasn’t finished. Apparently he graduated from apprentice in only 3 months!! He was able to maneuver though a HUGE thunderstorm AND pass his exam with the fastest time in history! But this is the best part; he’s a year younger than you!”_

Now Arriania was impressed. Jumping up, she turned and looked at the sky. Her normal stormy blue eyes were bright with excitement. “When do you think he’ll be here?” she asked. “Can you see them?” Standing, Myst squinted into the sky. The sun was still out with no clouds in the sky, which meant spotting the gray air dragons would be much easier. Looking around, she noticed a gray dot moving towards the base. 

_“I think I see them. Do you want me to flag them down?”_ Arriania nodded quickly, her head blurring slightly. Giggling at her partner’s excitement, Myst moved her head and used the silver circle on her necklace to catch the sun’s rays.

\-------------------------------------------------

_“How long will it be till we get to the base? I’m bored and I want to land already!”_

“Will you be quiet Zephyr?! We’ll be there soon enough. I didn’t want to go here anymore than you, but we’re stuck, so just shut up and let me figure out where I’m going!” Grumbling to himself, Zephyr focused on flying. He always felt uncomfortable flying without clouds. Being gray and black, like a stormy cloud, was useless in bright blue sky. “Zephyr!!” Lucarius called out, after checking the compass. “Why are we flying west!? We’re supposed to go south!!” 

_“I thought we were going south?! Look, the sun is setting………ahead of us. DUNG!”_ Zephyr turned around, hitting himself in the head for being such an idiot. Looking around, he saw an inlet surrounded by more cliffs with a beach below. He also noticed a bright flashing light on the cliff in the inlet. Zephyr turned his head to look at his partner. _“Hey! Do you see that light? I’m pretty sure there’s a dragon down there shining it at us.”_ Lucarius nodded and they both started to descend toward the light. 

As they got closer he was surprised by what he saw. He’d expected to be met by a general or another courier. Instead he saw a girl about his age, with pale skin and wavy reddish brown hair that ended near her lower back. She was dressed plainly in a long sleeve robin’s egg blue blouse and a long silver skirt. She was waving like crazy, and he couldn’t help but laugh and wave back. Behind the girl was a bright cyan Water Dragon.

‘I guess she’s one of the healers in the refugee camp,’ thought Lucaruis. ‘But why would a healer come and talk to me?’ “You ready for this Zephyr?” The dragon nodded and they landed on the jut on the cliff where the girl had been standing. 

\-------------------------------------------------

Arriania watched as the Air Dragon landed on the cliff in front of her. The dragon was quite impressive in her opinion. He was thunder cloud gray with a black stripe running down his back and tail. He had black rings on his front legs as well. He had onyx on the top of his wings which tipped with dark gray. The wings were pale gray on the bottoms and the color striped along the tops looked like lightning. His horns were average sized and a dark stormy gray. He had bright topaz eyes with a black mask surrounding them. 

“Hail!” The dragon’s bonded said as he jumped down off the dragon. “Courier Lucarius, reporting in.”

“Hail, courier,” Arriania said walking over and shaking hands with him, “My name is Arriania. Welcome to the Southern Cliffs. I’ll walk you over to the base camp.” After shaking hands, the two humans and their bonded dragons started to walk back towards camp. As they walked, Arriania took the time to inspect the new arrival. 

He was about the same height as her, about 16 hands, with pale skin and curly, dirty blonde hair. He had pale blue eyes that seemed to be trying to take everything in. He wore a black leather jacket with a hood, dark gray pants, and black boots. He had a bow and quiver strapped across his back and lots of throwing knives attached to his jacket. His bow was mahogany with a silver dragon tail on one end and a silver dragon claw holding an amethyst orb on the other. His quiver was black with purple embroidered throughout it. As she was studying him, he turned his head and caught her staring. She blushed and looked away quickly. He turned his head back slowly, smirking. 

“Just curious,” Lucarius said, “is a welcoming party customary for all new transfers?”

“No, before you showed up I was just lying on the cliff edge thinking about jumping off,” replied Arriania, shrugging.

Lucarius and his dragon stopped dead in their tracks. They shared a wide-eyed look. “Are things really that bad here that everyone is suicidal?!” Lucarius asked looking a little scared.

Arriania laughed loudly.“Nah,” she replied, “Me and Myst …”

_“Myst and I,”_ corrected the blue dragon.

“Don’t interrupt,” Arriania retorted, “We like to jump off the cliff for fun. It’s so thrilling!”

“Well, that’s one reason not to make assumptions when you meet people,” Lucarius said, chuckling as they started walking again. 

_“You really couldn’t tell that the two of them liked to fly?”_ asked the gray dragon.

“Did you notice that the she happens to be a WATER dragon, Zephyr? She can’t fly,” Lucarius said.

_“Well, since you didn’t introduce me I’m going to introduce myself,”_ Zephyr said, _“My name is Zephyr, and I’m the whole reason that we got out of the academy so quickly.”_

“Well, excuse me, Mr. Arrogance,” Lucarius said, “But I think it was because of my navigational skills that got us through the exam with record time. Especially since if we had gone the way you had wanted, we would have hit that hurricane and been in last place!” The two cut their argument short as they heard a strange sound coming from their left. Arriania and Myst were both cracking up laughing, and the combination of the two was a high pitched squeal echoed by booming laughter. Funnily enough, the booms came from the girl not the dragon. “What is so funny?” the courier asked the two hysterical females.

“The way you two argue, Lucarius, is just …” Arriania started laughing again, cutting herself off. 

“Well, I’m glad we amused you,” Lucarius said, grinning. “But if you wouldn’t mind, I prefer to be called Luce.”

“Okay,” Arriania said. They had arrived at the camp. She turned to Luce. “Well, what would you rather do? You can either go report in to the generals, or you can come with me and I can give you a tour of the camp.” 

Luce looked a little regretful. “I would probably like going on a tour with you much more than reporting in, but I probably should go and do my job.” She smiled and nodded.

“I understand. When you’re done with being ‘Courier Lucarius’”, she said, air quoting, “come and find me. Just ask someone where I am. They’ll know.” She pointed to a big burgundy colored tent. “The generals are in there. Good luck Luce, and again welcome to the Southern Cliffs.” She waved and walked away, Myst following after. 

Zephyr turned to Luce. _“Why do I get the feeling she’s not a normal healer?”_

Luce shrugged. “Come on Zephyr. Time to report in.” The two turned and walked into the tent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that I actually have more chapters up, hopefully I will be posting every Monday and Thursday. So look forward to next Monday.
> 
> Also, I'm looking to change the title of my story. If you have any ideas or suggestions leave them in comments or tell me at k9dixie548.tumblr.com


	4. Surprises Are In Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are multiple surprises in store for Lucaruis today, and the day's only just beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG! I'm sorry this posted late. It's a holiday and I had holiday commitments. 
> 
> At least this still came out on the correct date :-)

“Well troops, another glorious year has occurred. We have successfully taken another three islands from the Ris’ Valen scum!!” Shouts were heard around the camp. Hundreds of soldiers, mages and their dragons were gathered around their general, ready to be sent home for the winter after a grueling year of war with their enemy country. “We have won many battles, and although some of our fellows have fallen, we will not let their sacrifice be in vain!” More cheers were heard. The general raised his hands for silence. “Now comrades, I will not reveal all of our king’s magnificent plans yet, but I will tell you that he has a plan that will make the scum fall before the end of the next year!!!” Applause erupted from the base. The general laughed and held his hand up again. “Now, you all go off to your families. Be gone with you!”

As the people and dragons prepared to depart, a page tapped the shoulder of a female fire mage. She turned and started at him with piercing emerald eyes. “F-fire mage Althene, y-your presence has been r-requested by the H-h-h-high G-g-general.”

The fire mage nodded and turned to her dragon. “Come Synge. Let us go and meet with the High General.” The fiery red dragon nodded and turned to the page, who bowed and quickly walked the tent, followed by the mage and her dragon.

-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>- 

The sunlight was just starting to stream over the mountains when Luce was woken by a rather strange noise. It took him a minute for him to realize that what he was hearing was dragon footsteps. Sticking his head out of his tent, he saw through the dim light and fog that a water dragon and its partner were walking toward the cliff. The human was wearing a dark long sleeved shirt and pants, but didn’t have any armor or shoes on. What made it even stranger was that judging by the fin on the tail, the dragon walking with the human was a female! As far as Luce knew, there were no female warriors with water dragons. Male water dragons had extra facial fins instead of tail fins, and female water dragons and their bonded were healers.

Curious, he crept out of his tent and followed the pair.  He soon realized the pair was heading to the jut in the cliff where he landed when he first arrived about 2 weeks ago and met Arriania and Myst. As he was about to call out to the pair, the water dragon picked up the rider with her tail!  To Luce, it looked like the warrior was going to get thrown off the cliff. Realizing he had to do something, he leapt out of his hiding spot and ran at the pair. “What are you doing?!” he yelled.

The next thing he knew was the sensation of falling, then landing into ice-cold water. He yelped and tried to stay afloat. He heard a splash and turned to where the splash had come from. He was shocked to find Arriania there, treading water and laughing at him! “What are you doing here?” Luce sputtered.

Arriania just started laughing harder.  “Do you not remember what I said when you arrived, Courier? I like to jump off the cliff for fun! Especially in the morning. It’s a great wakeup call!”

“You got that right,” mumbled the miserable courier. He turned to the girl once her laughing had calmed down.  “Can we please go back to shore now? I think there are icicles in my hair.” She nodded, still smiling, and started swimming towards the cliff. Luce followed her, wondering where she was going. He soon saw they were swimming towards a beach in between the cliff the base was on and another to the right.  At first he thought the beach was full of tall sand dunes, but as he got closer he realized it was full of sand colored tents. 

When they finally got on dry land, Myst was there waiting for them with two towels on her tail. Zephyr was there too, trying hard to not start laughing. Luce reached for one of the towels gratefully, even more so when he realized how warm and soft it was.  Myst shook her head at Zephyr, who had now given up and was laughing quite loudly, and turned to Luce, who was drying his hair and checking for icicles.  _“I’m sorry we woke you, but why did you run out and yell at us?”_

Luce blushed at this. “I saw you pick up Arriania with your tail. I thought you were going to throw her over.” He stopped drying for a second. “How did I end up in the water anyway?”

Myst shook her head and pointed at Arriania with her tail. _“When we heard you yell, she grabbed you and then I threw you. It didn’t help that she tripped you first. I apologize for my partner’s rudeness.”_ Arriania stuck her tongue out at Myst. She looked at Luce, how was still soaked.

“Hey, Zephyr,” Arriania called to the still laughing dragon. “I promise to not have Myst throw you into the water like we threw Luce if you go and get him some new clothes.” Zephyr was about to decline, but he felt something around his leg. He looked and saw Myst’s tail already wrapped around his leg. He quickly nodded and flew up to the tent area. Luce shook his head at his new friend’s silliness.

When Zephyr returned with Luce’s day clothes, Luce realized that there was no way for him to change without Arriania watching. Paling, he turned to the girl and was about to ask him if she would look away while he changed, but saw she was holding open a tent for him to use. He quickly rushed inside and changed into his purple shirt, grey trousers and black boots. When he came out, he saw there were hundreds of people walking around the tents, starting fires, hanging out clothes, and lots of kids running around and playing on the shore. Looking for Arriania, he found her surrounded by about twenty of the people from the camp. She appeared to be writing down what they were telling her. Walking over to Zephyr, who was watching the kids play, he sat down next to the dragon. “So, do you know why all of those people are talking to Arriania?”

_‘As far as I can tell, this is a refugee camp. I would guess that Arriania is in charge of their issues.’_  As Luce was about to respond, Arriania called them over, saying they were about to leave. The four of them walked through the camp, Arriania waving and Myst nodding to the people that called out to them. When they walked through the camp, Luce and Zephyr saw a cave in the base of the tallest cliff.

“What’s in that cave?” Luce asked.

“I’ll show you.” Arriania replied. They all walked into the cave and were soon surrounded by shining gems imbedded in the cave wall. When they reached the end of the cave, Luce realized where he was. He hadn’t been there since first meeting Zephyr about four years ago.

Looking at Arriania, he shouted in surprise. “This is the hatching cave!!!” She smiled and nodded.

-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>- 

If Luce, Arriania, or their bonded dragons had thought to look at the sky behind them, they might have just seen a very small bright red dot standing out against the blue sky. That red dot was actually a fire dragon, one of the few fire dragons that were loyal to Ris’ Valen. About 20 years after the beginning of the war, a brave Ris’ Valen fighter snuck into the egg hatchery in Coronus’ capital and stole around 10 fire dragon eggs. The dragons from these eggs were bonded with Ris’ Valen spies and sent to spy on the army of Coronus. The very last egg had hatched some five years ago, and this dragon was the one flying towards the cliff base.

_“Althene, what do you think of the plan that the High General came up with?”_ asked the red dragon.

“I’m not sure Synge,” replied the mage Althene. “At least now we have an idea of what they’re planning. I just wish they had given us more information. I hate being left in the dark. Normally they tell me everything. Do you think that they suspect we’re spying on them?”

Synge shook her head. _“I don’t think so. We haven’t given them any reason to think that we’re spies.”_ Both of them thought about this for a while longer as they continued to fly. About an hour later, Synge spoke again, but this time she sounded much more excited. _“Althene, I think I see the base! Do you think that they’re waiting for us?”_

“I hope so Synge.” Althene was excited about seeing her best friend. She hadn’t seen her in over three years and had been missing her very much. Althene leaned down closer to Synge’s head. “You want to signal them that we’re here?” Synge grinned and let loose a huge column of flame.

-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>- 

“I don’t believe it!!” They were in a tall, wide cave. It was light up with thousands of glowing different colored crystal shards. At the far end of the cave were what looked like four giant stone bowls. Inside three of the bowls were dragon eggs of blue, green, or white. The fourth bowl was empty. Luce was stunned. He would have sworn that the hatching cave was farther away from the base. He turned to Arriania, who was trying so hard not to laugh over his stunned expression. “But I would have thought that they would have kept the eggs in a cave farther away from the front lines.”

Arriania nodded. “You would think so, but the dragons refused to have the cave moved. Apparently this is where it’s been since dragons first came to this land, and they certainly aren’t going to change now. You know the story of the HatchingCave, right?”

Luce blushed. “I heard it when I was little, but I don’t really remember. My grandmother was the only one who knew the story, and she died when I was young. Do you know it?’

Arriania nodded. “Probably more than you do, but I didn’t get a lot of time to hear stories when I was younger. However, I know someone who probably knows it much better than we do. Wait here.” She walked to the entrance and looked outside. It took her a while, but eventually she seemed to find who she was looking for, for she started waving as crazy as she had been when he first met her. Luce had to try very hard not to laugh. Eventually, she turned and walked back into the cave.

The two who followed her were a very tall dark skinned man and a big earth dragon. The man was huge, about 20 hands tall! He had short cut dark hair and eyes as black as coal. He wore a sleeveless yellow shirt, long black pants, and for some reason wasn’t wearing shoes. His dragon was also very big, around 39 hands tall and had lots of sharp brown spikes. He was a very dark green and had small brown speckles running across part of his scales. The dragon had on yellow gloves the same color of the man’s shirt, and had gold bands on his tail and the front two of his horns. Both of them seemed to be grinning, as if they had just heard a very amusing story. Arriania turned to Luce. “Courier Lucarius, Dragon Zephyr, these are two good friends of mine, Guardsman Kei and his bonded dragon Drytter. Kei, Drytter, these are my new friends Lucarius and Zephyr.”

The big man grinned. “So you’re the courier I’ve heard so much about.” He gestured toward Arriania. “This one here wouldn’t stop talking about this new courier that she met a couple weeks ago.”  Both Arriania and Luce blushed. Kei laughed at their red faces and offered his hand to Luce. “It’s nice to meet someone so talented at such a young age.”

Luce smiled and accepted the hand. “Please, the pleasure is mine. And call me Luce, Lucarius is too formal and I’m not very fond of it.

Kei nodded and smiled at Luce. “That sounds fine to me.” He looked over his shoulder to see the three dragons lying down near the eggs. He smiled. “Drytter,” he called, “wave hello would you?” The green dragon lifted his head and nodded toward Luce, then turned back to the other dragons. Kei laughed. “Drytter and I are pretty much opposites. I am, at least according to Arriania loud and childlike. Drytter is very quiet and sophisticated. We complete each other.” He seemed to stop moving for a second, blinked, and turned to Arriania. “Now what was it you wanted to see me for?”

The girl shook her head. “I actually wanted to see Drytter. Unlike you, he actually reads and knows legends and stories the best.” The big man seemed to deflate, and sat down next to the bowl full of green dragon eggs. He elbowed the green dragon, who looked up at Arriania. The girl looked back at the dragon. “Drytter, would you please tell us the story of the hatching cave?”

The green dragon nodded his head and began to speak. He had a low, gravelly voice.  _"The Legend of the Hatching Cave."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I ended on a cliffhanger. Yes, I don't care.
> 
> There will be more surprise's in store, but you'll have to wait for Thursday!


	5. Hatchings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn more about the Hatching Cave and why it's so important. Also, the last member of the group makes her presence known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think that it's becoming habitual that I update late in the day.......
> 
> Oh well. Enjoy!

**_The Legend of the Hatching Cave._ **

**_Thousands of years ago there were only two dragons, The Father and the Mother. Both dragons had pure white scales. They had been traveling for many miles trying to find a safe place for The Mother to lay her eggs, as she was clutched and was due to give birth soon. They had crossed mountains, canyons, oceans, and great plains, but there was no place good enough for the first dragons to keep their eggs. Finally, after crossing a great sea, they saw a cave at the bottom of a cliff. It was perfect. Tall, wide, and far enough from the sea that the high tide wouldn’t come in._ **

**_They had arrived just in time. Only hours after they had landed in the cave, The mother started to give birth. She gave birth to eight eggs. The first two were as vibrantly green as the leaves on a tree. The second two were as rich a blue as the ocean. The next two were as white as the brightest cloud. The last two were as strong a red as the flames of a fire. The Father and The Mother were overjoyed to have eight eggs, and soon to be eight new hatchlings. However, the eggs wouldn’t hatch. The Father created four giant bowls to keep the dragon eggs in and they decided to wait. They waited and waited and waited._ **

**_Sixteen years passed and four brothers of the age of sixteen found the cave. They snuck into the cave and saw the four giant bowls. The firstborn child went to the green eggs, the second to the blue, the third to the white, and the fourth to the red. As they looked into the bowls, a great cracking noise was heard. All the eggs had started to move! They shook and spun, while the shells continued to crack. Finally, with the loudest crack of them all, all the eggs hatched. There were now eight hatchlings, four male and four female. The Father and The Mother were so overjoyed to see their children, but the hatchlings wouldn’t leave the brothers alone. The Mother recognized that the hatchlings wanted to go to the children. She taught the children how to care for their new hatchlings. The Father told the children how each hatchling was different. The children thanked the first dragons and left the cave. The Father and The Mother took what was left of the egg shards and put them in the walls of the cave, where they shone like crystal._ **

**_Four years passed and the hatchlings had grown into adults. However, the female dragons were now also heavily clutched. Their brothers took them back to the cave where they were born, where the females gave birth. They put their eggs in the bowls like their mother had done and left the cave. At the same time, the wives of the four human brothers were giving birth to their first born children. When the men heard what had happened with their bonded dragons, they knew what they had to do. They taught their children about how they would have a dragon partner of their own and how to care for their partner. Whenever a child turned sixteen, the brothers would take that child to the cave, where they would receive their hatchling. After seeing the walls of the cave, the brothers put the shards of the eggs into the wall, so they could glow as well. This is why all dragons use this cave for hatching. Because our eggs shards are here to help call us back._ **

 Luce was amazed by the story. His grandmother certainly didn’t know all of that! The green dragon stayed silent for a while, then asked, _“Would you like me to explain the meanings of that story?”_ All of the humans and the two dragons nodded. _“Very well. This story explains the reasons to why any female dragon can have all four eggs, why humans and dragons get bonded when the human is sixteen, and why there are so many shards in this cave.”_

Arriania nodded. “This is why Ris’ Valen has always had such good relationships with other countries. All of the dragons come to lay their clutches here. That’s also the reason why no one harms a female who is clutched.”

Luce frowned. “But what about the fire dragons in Coronus? They certainly don’t lay their eggs here.”

Kei scowled. “The royalty of Coronus has fooled their people and their dragons. They want to keep all of their dragons on the island, so when a female is ready to give birth, she is locked away in a cell until the eggs come. They then take the eggs away from her and keep them in a room, where they count down the year until they can give dragons to their people. They even take the egg shards and throw them into the ocean!”

Arriania looked grim as well. “However, we do as much as we can to try and take back the eggs that need to come to our country. We have spies in the Coronus army that steal eggs from the hatchery and bring them back to the cave. We take any that are older than sixteen years and any that do not glow.” When Luce cocked his head to the side, she continued. “When an egg doesn’t glow, the person they are bonded to is too far away. That’s why we try to steal as many eggs as we can. We’re due to go in a few months. The last fire dragon egg we had was hatched in my sixteenth year." She smiled fondly. "I was actually there to see it happen.

 _"_ I had just arrived at the base I found out that there was only one other person who would get their dragon the same time as me. We were supposed to go the next day as the sun rose, however, we were too excited to wait that long. We both agreed to sneak away that night and get our dragons then.” Arriania paused and shook her head, smiling fondly. “It really was a stupid idea, but we thought we knew better. We just couldn’t wait. That night we snuck down to the cave. We went to the Earth bowl, then the Air bowl, but no dragon hatched. As we were walking to the Water bowl, I accidentally tripped on my skirt. I fell and pushed my companion over. They stumbled over to the Fire bowl, where there was only one egg. I on the other hand, fell and landed near the Water bowl.

"That’s when I head an egg crack. I stuck my head over the rim of the bowl and sure enough, I saw I had my very own dragon. When I turned to my companion, I was so surprised I started laughing.” She started giggling as she continued on. “They were holding the red egg like they were trying to keep it together. The egg had hundreds of little cracks and the dragon inside was peeping. My friend looked at me with these huge eyes and squeaked ‘I didn’t mean to!’ Eventually they gave up and they had the last fire dragon that our country had. We were in such trouble in the morning, but it was definitely – “

Suddenly they all heard screams coming from outside. They ran to the entrance and looked out. What they saw amazed them. A column of flame at least 40 feet high was alight in the sky. The males were stunned, but Myst and Arriania started to giggle.

 _“Synge has been practicing”_ Myst commented. Arriania nodded.

She turned to the males. “In fact, I do believe she’s here now. Come on!” She pulled on the arms of the two human males. “I want you to meet her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If any of you followed me on tumblr, you might have recognized the legend in this chapter. I posted that as a preview to this story. 
> 
> Now you know how it fits in!
> 
> Also, I will not be posting on Monday as I will be away and have no internet access. :'-(
> 
> However, I will make it up with some surprise stuff on Tuesday!


End file.
